Richard B. Van Sandt, who strove to defend and enhance Slidell's living standards while serving on the City Council for 16 years, died late Friday. He was 76.

View full sizeTimes-Picayune archiveFormer Councilman Richard Van Sandt, right, is greeted by Councilman Sam Caruso, left, during a reception for active and former city officials in 2010.

Mr. Van Sandt had been battling chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD, before dying in his home in the Slidell area, said his son, Scott. Scott Van Sandt on Monday added, "My father was devoted to improving the quality of life in ... Slidell. He was really in love with the city."

Mr. Van Sandt was born in Wewoka, Okla., in 1935. He attended the University of Houston and University of Mississippi prior to serving in the Air Force from 1954 to 1958. He eventually retired from Chevron USA as an assistant aviation buyer.

In 1982, Mr. Van Sandt successfully campaigned for his first term representing Slidell City Council District C, which encompassed the Palm Lake community he lived in for some time. He subsequently won three consecutive re-elections to his post but lost his bid for a fifth term in 1998 to Landon Cusimano, currently an at-large member of the council.

Mr. Van Sandt focused much of his legislative efforts on preventing residential neighborhoods from being encroached upon by commercial and industrial interests. He told The Times-Picayune in 1990, "I feel like we need to seek business and industry that is compatible and doesn't compromise the beauty or quality of life here."

He also worked to improve municipal streets; to bolster the drainage system; and to properly fund the police force. Keeping on top of such basic issues would make Slidell an attractive place to live and conduct business, he reasoned.

Sam Caruso Sr., who was Slidell's mayor from 1985 to 2002 and is now a councilman, described Mr. Van Sandt as an attentive, "highly intelligent," and "good-willed" public servant.

"He worried about things even when they didn't require it," Caruso remarked. "He was the picture of decency."

Aside from his son, Mr. Van Sandt is survived by his wife, Betty; two daughters, Jerri Guthrie Reeves and Cindy Guthrie Suarez; three grandchildren and one great-grandchild.

A funeral service is scheduled for 1 p.m. Thursday at First Pentecostal Church, 388 Robert Blvd. in Slidell. Visitation is at noon. Honaker Funeral Home in Slidell is handling the arrangements.